With a Jan. 9 teacher strike date drawing closer in Palmerton Area School District, several parents spoke during Tuesday night's school board meeting of the importance of getting a deal done.

The district and Palmerton Area Education Association have been negotiating since February with teachers working under an expired contract since July 1.Earlier in the day Tuesday, Association President Tom Smelas met with Palmerton's athletic director and coaches out of "professional courtesy" informing them of a school board policy that prohibits students from competing in athletic contests during a strike.Teams could practice off site, pending board approval."That doesn't sit well for me," said Tiffany Christman, who has a son on the high school wrestling team and two other sons who are volunteer wrestling coaches. "It's punishing our athletes."The strike could have detrimental effects on teams' postseason hopes and individual honors.In wrestling for example, Jared Mooney is within reach of his 100th victory and has qualified for the state tournament the past two years.Should the strike continue during the district tournament, no Palmerton wrestler would be eligible for regionals or the state tournament."To an athlete looking for scholarships in a specific sport, taking away even a week of competition could really hurt. Our athletes are thriving. There are a record number of kids out for the wrestling team this year. I'm asking both sides to do whatever you have to do to come to an agreement," Christman said.The latest in a series of negotiating meetings was held Wednesday night."We feel that it was a positive meeting," Smelas said following the session. "We've scheduled two more meetings in December, and both sides will continue to work as hard as possible to avoid a Jan. 9, 2017, strike."The last thing posted on the district's website is an offer to the teachers, which was rejected on Sept. 28.According to the district, the offer raises the starting salary from its current $43,982 per year to $50,000, raises of 3.25 percent per year for every teacher over the next three years, and one of two health care options.The first option, according to the district, is a PPO with a $400 deductible for single and $800 deductible for family and a copay ranging from $50 per month for single coverage to $72.50 per month for family coverage in the first year.The second option provides a $2,000/$4,000 deductible without any copays or premium shares.Resident Anne Cronk said the $50,000 starting salary is nice, but asked what the district is doing for existing teachers."We believe it's a lucrative offer," said John Audi, the attorney representing the district during negotiations. "The 3.25 percent is well above the cost of living increase."Smelas said Wednesday he would not comment on Audi's interpretation of the offer.According to Audi, the district has asked the teachers to enter into a fact-finding process on several occasions."The teachers association has told us on three occasions they won't do that," Audi said. "The last contract was settled because of fact-finding."Audi asked Smelas if the association would be willing to do that, Smelas said the two sides would discuss it during a negotiation meeting Wednesday night."We don't negotiate in public," Smelas said.Public negotiations became a hot topic Tuesday when Gildner and Audi said the board's negotiating committee was open to the idea.Most school board committee meetings are open to the public, but the negotiation committee has traditionally not followed that trend."There is nothing that says legally that can't happen," Audi said. "It hasn't been addressed at bargaining in the past, but from the district's perspective, we're open to it."Smelas reaffirmed, however, that the association does not share that stance."At this point, we have no interest in negotiating in public," he said. "It's been our stance from the beginning and we're sticking to that."With nothing being posted since the Sept. 28 offer, Cronk said it seems to the public there has been gridlock and said she heard one board member stepped away from the negotiating team.Board President Tammy Recker confirmed that two members had expressed interested in joining the team."You can ask my family, I've missed quite a few nights at home so know that the district is here meeting with the teachers," said Charles Gildner, a board member on the negotiating committee. "We are trying to reach an agreement."During an update to the board of activities throughout the district, high school social studies teacher Craig Borland said the teachers continue to "wish for a resolution as soon as possible."